Description

Please note: saddles are custom made. please allow up to 10 weeks to receive your saddle

Totally unique design soft tree saddle

Made with the highest quality materials

Optimum comfort for both horse and rider

Helps rider to sit in correct alignment

Completely flexible, allowing the horse to move correctly with no restriction on the shoulder

Very versatile

Comes in Dressage, VSD (GPS) and GP (GPT)

Black and Havana (Cognac pictured for illustration purposes only)

PLEASE NOTE: If you have not used or experienced this type of saddle before, we STRONGLY advocate that you seek the FREE advice of one of our specialist HM Saddle fitters
HM Vogue

The Vogue SoftTree saddle, when brand new, may look a little odd when first placed on the back of the horse. The panels and flaps may appear to point a little backwards. This is because when the rider’s weight causes the saddle to sink in the middle, this pushes the flaps forward. The saddle may appear not to touch all along the back, and may protrude at the rear, on either side of the back, but after riding in it a few times it will very quickly mould and adjust to the shape of the horse.
The saddle may even look asymmetric when taken out of the box! This is because it is fully flexible, except for a small solid cantle, and will sometimes assume the shape of the box. This will quickly correct itself once used on the horse.
Under cold conditions, the memory foam used in the seat will feel hard. It is advisable to warm the saddle before use, either keeping it in a warm place, or allowing it to sit for ten minutes or so on the horse’s back before riding, preferably with a rug over the saddle and horse’s back to retain heat if necessary.
The SoftTree saddles have a soft front arch, which expands and contracts automatically to accommodate all but very high withered horses. Padding is advised if the horse is high withered, has any muscle wastage or needs to build muscle up over the back/wither area.
With all saddles, whether treeless, part-treed or treed, there will always be an element of fitting. There will never be a saddle that is a “magic wand”, which can just be placed on every horse’s back without any thought to his conformation. Those with atrophy and/or asymmetry, and some young horses with undeveloped topline and musculature, will require additional padding. HM Saddle Agents should give you advice on this before purchase, preferably through a personal consultation visit, which is part of HM Saddle’s trial service*, although customers in an area where we do not yet have an agent, can be advised via conformation photos** and other important information by contacting [email protected].
Consideration of the fit of any saddle is highly important in young horses, or horses that change shape due to fluctuating condition and/or fitness levels. It is imperative that all horse owners should pay attention to this and ask their saddle supplier for help and advice as soon as they notice any changes, before their horse develops any soreness or white hair. HM Saddles would highly recommend that any increase in workload when purchasing any saddle should be undertaken gradually, keeping a check on all the above.
We recommend a high-wither cut numnah or saddle cloth is used on all horses, regardless of wither shape, even for the flattest, mutton withered horse, as the cloth is merely saddle shaped, pulls up into the front arch of the saddle and stays there. Flat or straight-cut saddle cloths always pull down over the wither, can cause rubs and also is a major factor in causing lateral slip in saddles.
For horses with atrophy and especially asymmetry, we strongly recommend the Griffin Shimmy Pad. We have found this to be the best correction pad of all, having shims from 5mm-15mm thickness. The shims are very easy to interchange, and the pad stays securely put under the saddle. This would be used on top of a normal cotton high wither saddle cloth if using the half pad, but not with the ProPad, as this would be overkill! If you would prefer to only use one numnah then the Shimmy Full Pad will also work very well. We also recommend that you purchase a saddlepad for your GP saddle with d-ring straps, as these fit our saddles much better than those with girthstraps.
We have long advocated using the Professionals Choice dressage girth, as it has been the best of many that we have tried. This girth is extremely well made, elasticated at both ends (one end means that the saddle is pulled unequally to one side) and has a wide neoprene strip against the horse, which is velcroed and can be removed for easy washing. Correct choice of girth can influence the stability of the saddle and leather girths, in particular, can contribute to stability problems.